How can you make a good first impression?

Your only given one chance to make a first impression, and often times it can make or break a new relationship with your customer. Your initial means of communication is your marketing message, a consistent, creative line that customers pick up when they first come in contact with your brand. While its easy to be succumbed into using that line to boast about your brand, customers really don’t want to hear it. What customers do want to hear, is a marketing message full of personality, promise, and contrast.

Chapter Five of The Marketing Plan Podcast will guide you through three principals to help you create the perfect brand message to seal the relationship with future customers. You can view Chapter Five’s notes here.

Whats the missing ingredient in harmonizing your plan?

Many entrepreneurs search for that one thing that will put everything in balance. We start believing the hype of the marketing specialists: “the missing ingredient in your marketing plan is social media, or search engine optimization. But its not that simple. While there is a missing ingredient, it’s not externally found, but internally.

Let’s take word-of-mouth conversation, for example. The hype would have you believe that in this Age of Conversation, it’s all about social media. But that’s false hype. In Chapter Four of The Marketing Plan Podcast we discuss how to earn conversation through brand engagement.

Why transaction hunting doesn’t work

In Chapter 3 of The Marketing Plan Podcast we will consider the main character of the story the customer. Looking at most business models, we can see that the customer is a target. Something to be captured. Customers are often considered transactions to be acquired, trophies to be won. This is the essence of transaction hunting, but I think that’s running the wrong way.

The goal is an emotional bond between your brand and the customer, this transcends product and service. When you establish this bond, sales happen. And while the key to sustainability and growth is sales, creating a relationship does not come from sales tactics. I believe they arrive through four, simple relationship principles.

Do you consider yourself a bullet point business, or a brand with a story?

In Chapter 2 of The Marketing Plan Podcast, I will guide you through four, Level 1 Branding Questions that will drill down into the essence of your brand. If you are wanting to build your brand story, begin by answering the following questions:

It’s Time for a Transformation Plan

I’d like to introduce you to my new show: The Marketing Plan Podcast. My new show focuses on the transformation of your business, and turning it into the brand you’ve always dreamed of becoming. Our previous podcast, As I mentioned in my last episode, Power to the Small Business is no longer being produced, but this website will remain with the archive of all past episodes.

And now, I’d like to present, the premiere episode of my brand new show: It’s Time for a Transformation Plan. Because it is time: time for you to end the search for the solution to taking your business to the “next level.” Allow Chapter 1 to give you the confidence in reaching your business’s true potential.

After 99 episodes, Power to the Small Business will be changing. Actually this podcast will be powering down to make room for a new marketing podcast that I will launch next week, on April 24, 2014. I will post the first few episodes here so that you can get a taste of the new show to see if you like it.

Meantime, I invite you to listen to the most popular episode of the 99 that I produced. It features, Megan Duckett, the entrepreneur who founded Sew What, a theatrical curtain company in Southern California. Cool-sounding business, huh? Well it is, and Megan has a lot of marketing wisdom to share about how she turned Sew What into a powerful brand.

The news is out that Facebook is limiting the exposure of your brand page posts. Now, only 1-2% of you fans can actually view your posts organically. Any more than that and either your fans will have to share them, or….you will have to pay to advertise on Facebook.

Lots of businesses aren’t to happy about that, including Jason Falls of Social Media Explorer, who calls it a swindle. And Jason is the guest on this episode of Power to the Small Business as we discuss what to do about Facebook’s strong-arm move. Should you pay-to-play? Check out this episode and add your comments below.

Many businesses get stalled because customers just don’t understand everything they have to offer. If that’s happening to your business, perhaps you have an explanation problem. This is the episode that will offer you a brand communication solution.

Guest: Lee Lefever, Co-founder of Common Craft and author of The Art of ExplanationHost: Jay Ehret, Dean of Marketing Know-How at The Marketing Spot.com